


the other side of the wall

by sjnsdipity



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Fluff, Getting Together, Injury, M/M, Neighbors, The rest of the members are mentioned, Tiny bit of Angst, blink and you miss it 2hyun, doing nice things for someone you don't know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 19:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20626406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sjnsdipity/pseuds/sjnsdipity
Summary: Choi Chanhee has never had a conversation with the boy in the apartment next to his. He’s got a bright smile, one that can light up a room the moment he walks in, and a cute laugh that can clearly be heard through the walls. Chanhee is happy that he’s neighbors with someone as happy as Ji Changmin.Until he’s not.now playing:alec benjamin - must have been the wind





	the other side of the wall

**Author's Note:**

> okay so just for reference, when i say that changmin's hair is [peach-orange pink](https://twitter.com/WE_THE_BOYZ/status/1119965136037404673) or [burgundy/magenta](https://twitter.com/WE_THE_BOYZ/status/1167773191051173888) this is what i mean!! these are the tweets that i got his hair colors from hes so cute 

Choi Chanhee has never had a conversation with the boy in the apartment next to his. The first day he moved in, he introduced himself, so he knows his name, but they’ve never _ talked. _He’s seen him though, a lanky boy with a long neck and peachy pink-orange hair. He’s got a bright smile, one that can light up a room the moment he walks in, and a cute laugh that Chanhee can hear through the walls. His neighbor has friends over often; he can hear them talking together, and occasionally something will hit the wall, followed by laughter (it’s probably one of the boys).

In case it wasn’t clear, their apartment building sort of sucks. The building is older, but not old enough to be falling apart. It’s old enough to have super thin walls, though. Considering most of the residents are young college students, it’s not exactly something that any of them really care to complain about—not with everything else going on in their lives.

The peachy haired boy’s apartment is always noisy. He has a naturally loud voice and naturally loud friends. He also likes to play his music and movies near maximum volume—not that Chanhee is complaining. His neighbor has good taste in music. He plays the type of music meant for exercise, or dancing, or music from idols. He plays _ a lot _of girl groups, and Chanhee can always hear him singing along, and occasionally his friends sing along too. He knows (based on the thumping he hears) that Changmin dances along to the songs, and that alone makes Chanhee smile.

Having Ji Changmin as a neighbor makes Chanhee lonely sometimes. It’s not that he doesn’t have friends—he _ does— _but there’s something about Changmin that makes him feel like he wants more. Maybe it’s the way his eyes sparkle when he waves at Chanhee in the hallway. 

Either way, Chanhee is happy that he’s neighbors with someone as happy as Ji Changmin. Until he’s not.

It starts on a Monday. Mondays are the worst day of the week for Chanhee: he has to get up super early, he always has assignments due on Mondays because his professors hate him, and the woman in the apartment across from his, Minah, always makes her one-night-stands leave at the same time he leaves for work so he has to take the elevator with the men and women she sleeps with. 

Chanhee is _ not _a morning person. Mondays just suck for everyone, in reality, but Chanhee is dramatic so they suck even more for him in particular. 

He’s going through his normal morning routine, a heated up smores pop tart and a cup of coffee for breakfast because he ran out of eggs yesterday. The wooden floor is cold against his feet, his shoes and socks waiting for him in front of the door, and his eyes are still half closed as he leans against the counter. He’s already dressed, a hoodie wrapped around him because it’s November and it’s starting to get cold outside. He’s contemplating what he’s going to do for winter break when he notices. Chanhee can’t help but frown. 

Changmin is playing a sad song. He doesn’t do that in the mornings. He barely does that _ ever _ . Leaning closer to his kitchen wall because he knows that Changmin’s apartment is just on the other side, he tries to make out the lyrics. Oh my god, he’s listening to _ Ed Sheeran. _ Chanhee doesn’t mind Ed Sheeran, but _ Changmin _? He’s never heard him listen to a song like this—slow, sad, the type that would make his mom cry. It doesn’t feel right.

Pushing a little closer to the wall, he thinks he can hear a faint sniffle.

He’s startled when his alarm rings, reminding him that he has to leave, like, _ now _ if he doesn’t want to be late. “Shit,” He breathes, downing his coffee and ignoring the way it burns the back of his throat. The mug gets thrown haphazardly into the sink, the last half of his poptart hanging out of his mouth as he nearly trips getting to the door to put his shoes on.

Any thought of Changmin is pushed to the back of his mind as he slams his door and waves half-heartedly at the red haired woman tiptoeing out of Minah’s apartment. 

* * *

He doesn’t think of it again until that weekend. Six in the evening on Saturday night finds Chanhee curled up on the floor of his living room, scrawling notes in the purple notebook he uses for his psychology class. (His couch was never comfortable to do work on, and sitting at the tiny dining table always ended up hurting his back, so the floor was _ obviously _the best choice. He’s less likely to fall asleep there.) Psych is a topic he wants to pursue more, maybe even one he wants to make a career out of, but it’s a bit late to change his major. Especially since it’s the one his parents picked out for him.

Chanhee is feeling a little sad tonight, feeling like the weight of the world (_ of his parents’ expectations _) is resting on his shoulders and he can’t do anything to get rid of it. He feels like even succeeding won’t do enough. He sighs, putting his pen in his notebook to mark his page, and throws it away from him. The next thing he does is stretch his back, wincing as his vertebrae crack and creak, and when his neck does the same as he rolls his head.

He’s surprised at the quietness once he pauses his music (Sam Kim, because _ of course _Jacob was right when he said Chanhee would like his music) and takes his headphones out, tucking his phone into the pocket of his sweatpants. He’s fully expecting to hear Changmin’s friends over, since it’s a Saturday night, but he doesn’t hear any laughing or screaming or one of them paying the pizza place they always order from because it’s the closest one. It makes him pause, standing up and shuffling into his kitchen.

It feels a little creepy pushing his ear to the wall so he can hear what’s going on in Changmin’s apartment, but sue him, he’s _ worried. _ Changmin’s apartment is almost never quiet on Saturday nights. Come to think of it, he hasn’t heard the pizza delivery boy come in a few days. It all feels off, it feels like something is wrong. Despite what Chanhee’s friends may say, he’s very observant. So when he hears another slow and sad song coming from Changmin’s apartment, he’s a bit concerned. Is that… Is that _ Joji? _

Yeah, there’s _ definitely _something wrong.

He backs away from the wall, leaning on his counter instead, and fidgets with his hands as he thinks. Changmin doesn’t play sad music. Much less (in the words of Jacob) _ in your feelings music _like Joji makes. It feels wrong to not hear Changmin laughing or muttering to himself while he takes notes (why does Changmin take notes in his kitchen?) or talking on the phone or to one of his friends. It felt like the universe was thrown off balance. When was the last time Chanhee even saw Changmin come out of his apartment?

Then again, what could _ he _do about it? He’s not Changmin’s friend, not by a long shot. He doesn’t even know if Changmin knows his name. Chanhee’s never even had a full conversation with the other boy that went beyond “Hi” and “Hello!”

Huh. 

Hi and hello. Hi hello. Hi Hello. 

Suddenly struck with inspiration, Chanhee forgets about the fuzzy socks (with snails on them) on his feet and nearly falls on his face rushing to get to his phone. Then he realizes that his phone is in his pocket and feels like a fool. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, the next thing he grabs is a glass cup from the cabinet to the left of the sink. (They were kept on the right at his parents’ house. Maybe that’s why the first thing he did when he got his apartment was put the cups in the left cabinet.) 

Jacob did this sometimes. Chanhee will admit that he thought it was dumb at first; why not just _ buy _ a speaker? But then again, they’re broke college students. Chanhee has three jobs, but between the rent for his apartment (that his parents still help him pay), food, and whatever comes in between, he’s still broke. Sometimes he hates it. Shaking himself from his thoughts, he hops up on the counter, ignoring the way there’s barely any room for him and how he almost knocks off an empty bowl by the sink. Kind of jittery, Chanhee types the title of one of his favorite songs for when he’s feeling alone, dropping his phone into the glass. When he hears the first note, he holds the mouth of the glass up against the wall.

Almost immediately, the music from Changmin’s apartment quietens.

The song Chanhee is playing starts with synth, then percussion, and the rest of the instruments come in when the vocals start. There’s a quiet thump from the other side of the wall when the chorus starts with a dragged out high pitched _ “hi” _ and is followed by harmonies and a slightly softer “ _ hello _.” Chanhee doesn’t know if Changmin likes them, but Day6 is always a good way to go when someone is upset.

At some point during the second chorus, he finds his ear pressed against the wall beside the cup.

(Chanhee isn’t aware of it, but on the other side of the wall, Changmin has his eyes closed, his head leaning on the same spot. The peachy haired boy is shaking a little, his ankle propped up against the counter and wrapped. It hurts. Not just his ankle, but the fact that he can’t dance for—)

When the song ends, he puts the glass, with his phone still in it, down on the counter. He doesn’t move, even though his ear and the side of his face are starting to hurt. He stays like that for a few more minutes, his ears only meeting silence (Changmin is muffling his sniffles in his hoodie sleeve, not that Chanhee knows). He sighs, about to lean away, when he catches a small and barely there “thank you” from the other side.

He smiles, pushing his mouth a little closer to the wall. “Anytime.”

* * *

For the next month or so, Chanhee plays presses the glass cup with his phone in it against the wall connecting his apartment to Changmin’s. The other boy always stops his own music to listen, and he always thanks Chanhee in a tiny voice from the other side of the wall. Chanhee has played all types of songs, but specifically ones with a message that’s something along the lines of friendship, or support, and cheesy other stuff like that. 

(He’d actually made a playlist full of songs to play for Changmin. There were _ a lot _of songs in it.)

Playing music through the wall for Changmin sort of becomes a habit. Almost like a response, he starts hearing Changmin’s own music pick up pace again. He starts playing more girl group songs, more hip-hop, less Ed Sheeran and Joji and music that would make Chanhee’s mother cry. He starts hearing less sniffling come from Changmin’s apartment, and his friends start coming back over every weekend. The first time they came back over, Chanhee was terrified when he heard a screech from Changmin’s apartment, but then he heard a loud laugh that definitely _ wasn’t _Changmin and relaxed.

(Actually, he’d smiled like an idiot, happy that Changmin’s friends were back, even though he didn’t know where they’d went in the first place.)

The downside of Chanhee’s new habit is that it seems to take over the habit of waving to Changmin whenever he sees him in the hallway. He hasn’t actually _ seen _ Changmin in what feels like forever, and it’s sort of making him concerned. He sees the other boy’s friends a few times, carrying pizza from the regular place and they all smile at Chanhee when they pass him. But he hasn’t seen _ Changmin _.

With a pouty frown on his lips, Chanhee expresses his worry to his friends. “I don’t know, I’m just kind of worried for him, I guess. He’s normally so cheery and happy, and he’s been getting more like that lately, but I still haven’t seen him in the hall and stuff. Do you think I should, like, knock on his door or something?”

Jacob, Younghoon, and Sangyeon blink at him. “Let me get this straight,” Jacob says slowly. “You’ve been playing music through your super thin wall for your neighbor that you’ve never even had a _ conversation _ with because you noticed he was sad? For a _ month _?” Chanhee nods. “And you still haven’t gone over there to talk to him?” He nods again, and his friends share looks with each other.

He feels like he’s missing something. 

“You’re whipped.”

It’s Chanhee’s turn to blink, a little dumbfounded at his friends. “What?” He cries, shaking his head and hoping Changmin hadn’t heard Younghoon’s scoffed words through the wall. “No I’m not, I just—” He blinks. 

At first, he’d done it because he didn’t want to see someone as bright as Changmin be sad. That was understandable. But a _ month _ ? He’d been playing music through the wall for a month. Changmin’s music had gone completely back to normal. He was worried about not seeing Changmin in the hall, but it wasn’t like they saw each other every single day anyway. Chanhee’s not one to start liking someone easily, but Changmin is just _ so easy _to like, and maybe that’s why—

“Oh my God,” He realizes. 

Sangyeon, exasperation plastered all over his face, nods. “_ Now _ you figure it out,” He sighs. “It’s literally been a month and a half, Chanhee, how are you that oblivious? You’re worse than Hyunjoon and Jaehyun.” Hyunjoon and Jaehyun, who are missing tonight’s little gathering at Chanhee’s because they finally got their shit together and are going on a date. After months of them tiptoeing around each other. Chanhee stares at Sangyeon deadpan. “Okay, maybe not as bad as them, but _ still. _”

Almost at that exact moment, there’s a loud laugh and a thump from Changmin’s apartment. It’s Saturday night, which means he has his friends over, but it sounds a little less chaotic than normal.

Eyebrows furrowed, Younghoon looked between Chanhee and the living room wall that connected to Changmin’s apartment. “Let’s go over there,” He decided. Chanhee sputters, shaking his head rapidly. 

“No!” He hisses.

Sangyeon is already climbing to his feet, Jacob shifting the blankets he had wrapped around himself. Younghoon is smiling all smugly, his eyebrows doing that stupid thing they do when something goes his way. Chanhee scrambles to his feet, eyes wide, but they’re already stomping toward the door, snickering at the way he’s cursing at them. 

“You guys!”

They ignore him, opening his door and nearly getting stuck as all three of them try to get out of the apartment at the same time. Changmin’s apartment is literally _ right there _, so by the time Chanhee cracks his door just enough to keep it open, his friends are already standing in front of Changmin’s door with matching grins (it’s kind of creepy, actually) and Jacob is lowering his hand from knocking on the door. 

From inside the apartment, one of Changmin’s friends calls, “Pizza’s here!”

Outside the apartment, Chanhee is slapping Younghoon’s shoulder, trying to shove his friends back toward his own apartment. 

The door swings open. “Not the pizza,” A boy with vibrant blue hair and a lisp says. Chanhee recognizes him, but he doesn’t know his name. “This is _ not _the pizza.” 

“Hi!” Younghoon chirps, “Hi, yeah, we aren’t your pizza, but do you think you could share, we didn’t order any yet and I’m kinda hungry, so—”

“Younghoon shut up,” Jacob muttered, still smiling at the blue haired boy. “You’re not Changmin.”

The boy blinked. He looked at all four of them, until he caught sight of Chanhee over Younghoon’s shoulder. “Oh, it’s you!” He exclaimed, his expression brightening suddenly. “Changmin, your cute neighbor is here!”

Chanhee blushed darkly, and there was a high pitched noise that he immediately recognized as Changmin from inside the apartment. “My _ what _?” There was a sound of scurrying footsteps, and then Changmin popped up behind the blue haired boy, blinking, and Chanhee grinned in spite of himself. 

The first thing he notices is that Changmin’s hair isn’t peach-pink anymore. It’s magenta, almost burgundy looking, and it looks really cute. The second thing he notices is that Changmin has on a big oversized hoodie that makes him look super warm and comfortable. The third he notices is that Changmin is in glasses. Round ones. Something in him squeaks—judging by the way Younghoon turns to look at him, unimpressed, he did that out loud too.

“Hi,” Chanhee breathed. 

Changmin blinked at him, eyes wide and round behind his glasses. His hair was all ruffled, and he stuttered as the blue haired boy elbowed him in the stomach. “Hey.”

They both hesitate, and Sangyeon groaned. “Can we come in?”

The blue haired boy nodded, and Changmin startled. “Eric,” He hissed, “You can’t just invite people into my apartment!”

Eric stared at him with dead eyes. “Come on in,” He deadpanned, and Jacob snickered as he, Younghoon, and Sangyeon brushed past Changmin to enter the apartment. When Chanhee stepped forward, Eric shoved Changmin out of the apartment and slammed the door closed. 

Jaw dropped, Changmin pounded on the door with his fist. “Youngjae!” He whined, but there was only a chorus of cackles from inside. “Juyeon! Kevin! Open the door! I’m gonna call Haknyeon and Sunwoo, and they’re gonna—”

“Changmin.” Minah’s door opened, and she stuck her head out. _ Only _her head. Changmin snapped around to look at her, eyes wide and sheepish, ready to knock again. “Some of us are busy.” They could clearly see her bare shoulders as she closed the door before he could apologize.

“I’m sure she’s _ busy _,” Chanhee muttered, heart skipping a beat when Changmin laughed a little at him. “Do you, um…” He shuffled his feet a little, resisting the urge to bite down on his lip. “Do you wanna come inside? I have hot chocolate, and I, um…” 

He stutters vaguely for a moment before Changmin ends his misery. “Yeah, alright.”

A few minutes later, they’re sat on the ground in Chanhee’s living room, mugs in both their hands with the hot chocolate Chanhee had made for his friends before they decided to betray him. It was a little less than warm, but Changmin didn’t seem to mind. 

They sit in silence for a moment, until Changmin put his cup down with a slight _ clanking _noise. “Chanhee, I never thanked you.” Chanhee blinked up at him, clearly surprised. “For the music. It probably didn’t seem like much to you, but it meant a lot to me. I, uh, sprained my ankle about a month and a half ago.”

Glancing down at Changmin’s ankle, which looks completely fine now, Chanhee furrows his eyebrows. “Is that why you were so sad?” He wonders aloud, and Changmin grimaces.

“Yeah. An ankle injury meant I had to sit out on performances and classes, and they told me no dancing until it healed, but dancing is… It comes like breathing.” His voice fades into something else, something soft and fire-filled at the same time, his eyes lighting up. “I dance all the time, I haven’t ever gone that long without dancing. It just felt so wrong, y’know?”

Chanhee cleared his throat. “Well, you don’t have to thank me. Not for that. I didn’t want to see you sad, it doesn’t suit you. I like it much better when you’re happy like this. It’s cute how your eyes light up when you laugh.” He froze, squeezing his eyes shut. _ Why did I say that, he’s gonna think I’m weird, oh my God, I’m so du _—

“You think I’m cute?” Changmin asked, voice suspiciously high pitched. When Chanhee peels his eyes open, he’s astonished to see that Changmin’s ears, cheeks and neck are flushing a pretty pink. “Really?”

Feeling daring all of a sudden, he tilted his head. “My friends said the reason I kept playing the music for a month, even after you stopped being so sad, is because I’m whipped.” 

Changmin squeaked, loud and high pitched. “Because you’re _ what? _”

“Yeah,” Chanhee shrugged, knuckles white from how tight he was holding his mug. _ Put it down before you break it _, he thought to himself, placing it on the floor beside his thigh. He clasped his hands in his lap instead. “They might be right.”

The other boy gaped at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish. “You—you can't say things like that!” Changmin pointed at his face with a slightly shaking finger. “I’ve been trying to get the courage to talk to you basically since you moved in, and now I’m in your living room and you’re telling me I’m cute, something here isn’t adding up! Make it make sense!” Chanhee has absolutely _ no idea _what Changmin is talking about. “I was gonna ask you on a date,” He moaned pitifully.

“You still can,” Chanhee pointed out, grinning when Changmin flailed a bit. “Or would you rather _ me _ ask _ you _?”

Burying his face in his hands, Changmin uttered a quiet “you’re gonna be the death of me” under his breath before he raised his head and stated, quite loudly, “Yeah, I’ll go on a date with you.”

On the other side of the wall, their friends screeched in happiness.

**Author's Note:**

> this is a mess but im kind of proud of it so :D let me know what you thought of it!!


End file.
